Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

The Torah describes a particular danger that arises after a person has heard the words of Hashem’s covenant. This is not someone who never heard the covenant or does not know what the Torah demands. The verse specifically describes a person who hears the words of the covenant, but then begins an internal process through which he convinces himself that he can reinterpret, change, add to, subtract from, or reshape what he has heard according to his own ideas and desires, while still expecting that everything will remain well with him.
וְהָיָה בְּשָׁמְעוֹ אֶת דִּבְרֵי הָאָלָה הַזֹּאת — “And it shall be, when he hears the words of this oath.”
The commentaries explain the individual expressions used by the Torah to describe this process.
1. וְהִתְבָּרֵךְ בִּלְבָבוֹ — “He Will Bless Himself in His Heart”
Saadia understands וְהִתְבָּרֵךְ — Vehitbarekh as “rationalize.” Literally, וְהִתְבָּרֵךְ בִּלְבָבוֹ — Vehitbarekh bilvavo means that he “blesses himself in his heart” (Lekach Tov; Yehudah HaLevi cited by Ibn Ezra; Chizzkuni; Sforno). Other explanations include “conclude” (Targum; Ibn Janach), “give up hope” (Targum Yonathan), “think that he will have blessing” (Rashi), or “flatter himself” (Septuagint).
The person has heard what Hashem said, but he begins reasoning within himself and develops his own explanation of why the words he has heard do not have to govern him exactly as they were given.
2. שָׁלוֹם יִהְיֶה לִּי — “I Will Have Peace”
After rationalizing, the person reaches his conclusion:
שָׁלוֹם יִהְיֶה לִּי — Shalom yihyeh li — “I will have peace.”
Rashi explains that he tells himself that the curses will not come upon him and that nevertheless he will have peace. He does not necessarily deny that the covenant exists. Rather, he convinces himself that he can depart from its requirements while remaining protected from its consequences.
3. כִּי בִּשְׁרִרוּת לִבִּי אֵלֵךְ — “I Will Walk According to the Vision of My Own Heart”
The Torah then identifies the basis of his reasoning:
כִּי בִּשְׁרִרוּת לִבִּי אֵלֵךְ — Ki bishrirut libi elekh — “For I will walk according to the vision of my own heart.”
Rashi understands בִּשְׁרִרוּת לִבִּי — bishrirut libi as what his own heart sees fit to do. Targum and Ibn Janach explain it as “follow my own ideas.” Targum Yonathan and Saadia understand it as “follow my heart’s desires.” Lekach Tov gives “remain free in my heart” and “maintain my strong position.” Ramban explains it as following one’s stubborn desires. Sforno explains it as annulling the matter within one’s heart. The Septuagint renders it as “follow my own error.”
The covenant has been heard, but the person now makes his own heart, ideas, desires, and judgment the standard according to which he will walk.
4. לְמַעַן סְפוֹת — “To Add, Join, Destroy, Annul, or Water”
The Torah continues:
לְמַעַן סְפוֹת — Lemaan sefot.
Targum, Rashi, Radak, Sherashim, and Ramban understand סְפוֹת — sefot as “add.” Yehudah HaLevi cited by Ibn Ezra, Ibn Janach, Chizzkuni, and the Septuagint understand it as “destroy.” Ibn Ezra also gives “annul,” Abarbanel gives “water,” and Rashi, citing Sanhedrin 76b, gives “join.”
5. הָרָוָה — “The Moist, Satisfied, or Unthirsty”
הָרָוָה — Haravah denotes something moist, well-watered, satisfied, or unthirsty.
Ibn Ezra, Ibn Janach, and Radak understand it in one interpretation as the righteous. Ramban gives an interpretation referring to one who has no desire. Other explanations understand it as the wicked person who has already satisfied his desires (Septuagint; Ramban; Ralbag; Radak; Sforno). Rashi understands it in another interpretation as the accidental sinner who acts like a drunkard, while Rashbam understands it as the spiteful sinner who sins even though he has no real desire.
6. הַצְּמֵאָה — “The Dry or Thirsty”
הַצְּמֵאָה — Hatzeme’ah — “the thirsty” is the opposite of הָרָוָה — Haravah — “the satisfied or unthirsty.”
Ibn Ezra, Ibn Janach, and Radak understand it in one interpretation as the “dry” wicked person. Ralbag understands it as those who possess desires. Chizzkuni and Bachya understand it as desire itself. Rashi understands it as one who sins with full knowledge, while Rashbam understands it as one who sins because of his thirst and desire.
7. לְמַעַן סְפוֹת הָרָוָה אֶת הַצְּמֵאָה — The Complete Expression
The complete expression,
לְמַעַן סְפוֹת הָרָוָה אֶת הַצְּמֵאָה — Lemaan sefot haravah et hatzeme’ah,
is consequently explained in several ways. Saadia gives “to rid thirst with wetness” or “to join the thirsty to the unthirsty.” Radak gives an interpretation involving the righteous being included with the wicked. Ibn Ezra and Ibn Janach understand it as destroying the righteous with the wicked. Chizzkuni understands it as joining the righteous with the wicked. Bachya asks whether the righteous should therefore be destroyed with the wicked. Abarbanel understands it as the moist being watered with the dry. The Septuagint understands it as lest the sinner destroy the guiltless together with himself.
According to Rashi and Targum, accidental sins become joined to deliberate sins. The person’s deliberate decision to walk according to שְׁרִרוּת לִבּוֹ — sherirut libo — the dictates of his own heart changes his standing under the covenant.
This Covenant Was Already Given by Hashem
This warning in Devarim concerns a covenant whose commandments had already been explicitly transmitted by Hashem through Moshe. Earlier in the Torah, Hashem had spoken directly to Moshe and commanded him to transmit His words to בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל — Bnei Yisrael — the Children of Israel.
Vayikra 20:1–6 records one such original statement:
וַיְדַבֵּר ה׳ אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר — “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying,” and וְאֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תֹּאמַר — “And to the Children of Israel you shall say.”
Gd spoke to Moses, telling him to say the following to the Israelites: If any person, whether a [born] Israelite or a proselyte who joins Israel, gives any of his children to Molekh, he must be put to death. The local people must pelt him to death with stones. I will direct My anger against that person, and I will cut him off [spiritually] from among his people, since he has given his children to Molekh, thus defiling that which is holy to Me and profaning My holy name. [Therefore,] if the people ignore the fact that this person has given his children to Molekh and they do not kill him, I will direct My anger against that person and his family. I will cut him off [spiritually] from among his people, along with all those who are misled by him to prostitute themselves to Molekh. If a person turns to the mediums and oracles so as to prostitute himself to their ways, I will direct My anger against him, and cut him off [spiritually] from his people.
This is the original statement being transmitted: וַיְדַבֵּר ה׳ אֶל מֹשֶׁה — “Hashem spoke to Moshe,” followed by וְאֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תֹּאמַר — “And to the Children of Israel you shall say.” The commandments were already stated and transmitted before the later warning in Devarim against hearing the covenant and then walking according to בִּשְׁרִרוּת לִבִּי — bishrirut libi — “the vision of my own heart.”
The Result
The Torah then states the result of the person’s declaration.
לֹא יֹאבֶה ה׳ סְלֹחַ לוֹ — Lo yoveh Hashem seloach lo — “Hashem will not agree to forgive such a person.”
Hashem’s anger and demand for exclusive worship will be directed against him, and the curses written in the Torah will rest upon him.
Devarim 29:20 continues:
וְהִבְדִּילוֹ ה׳ לְרָעָה — Vehibdilo Hashem lera’ah — “Hashem will separate him for evil,”
and he will be subject to:
כֹּל אָלוֹת הַבְּרִית — Kol alot habrit — “all the curses of the covenant.”
The Torah then describes הַדּוֹר הָאַחֲרוֹן — Hador ha’acharon — “the future generation” seeing what has happened to the land. The nations themselves will ask:
עַל מֶה עָשָׂה ה׳ כָּכָה לָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת — “Why did Hashem do this to this land?”
The Torah gives the answer:
עַל אֲשֶׁר עָזְבוּ אֶת בְּרִית ה׳ — Al asher azvu et brit Hashem — “Because they abandoned the covenant of Hashem.”
They went and served foreign gods, and Hashem brought upon the land the curses written in the Torah and drove them from their land.
The passage concludes:
הַנִּסְתָּרֹת לַה׳ אֱלֹקֵינוּ — Hanistarot laHashem Elokeinu — “The hidden things belong to Hashem our Gd.”
וְהַנִּגְלֹת לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ עַד עוֹלָם — Vehaniglot lanu ulevaneinu ad olam — “But the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever.”
And finally:
לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת — La’asot et kol divrei haTorah hazot — “To keep all the words of this Torah.”

The Gate of Repentance — Do Not Say, “Tomorrow I Will Act”
One of the great dangers standing in the way of repentance is not necessarily the refusal to repent, but the decision to postpone it. A person may recognize that his actions are wrong and may even sincerely intend to change, yet convince himself that there will be time later. He imagines that he can first satisfy his desires, have his fill of them, and afterward withdraw from sin and return to Gd.
The Duties of the Heart, The Gate of Repentance, Chapter 7, warns against precisely this calculation. A person imagines that he will draw away from sin after first fulfilling his desire for it and having his fill of it. In doing so, he imagines that he can fool the Almighty, as it were. He wants both worlds: first the sin, and afterward the repentance.
Our Masters, of blessed memory, described this attitude clearly:
“He who says, ‘I will sin and repent, sin and repent,’ will be given no chance to repent.” — Yoma 85b
The problem is therefore not merely the individual act of sin. The person has incorporated repentance itself into his calculation. Teshuvah, which was given as the means of returning to Gd, becomes part of the justification that allows him to continue doing what he knows is wrong. He tells himself that there will always be another opportunity to correct what he is doing today.
But tomorrow does not belong to man.
The Admonition at the end of the book expresses this directly:
My soul, make provisions abundantly, not meagerly,
While you still are alive and able;
For a long journey lies ahead of you.
The opportunity to make provisions exists specifically while a person is alive and able to act. Whatever must be repaired, corrected, returned, abandoned, or accomplished belongs to the present world and to the present opportunity.
The warning therefore continues:
Do not say, “Tomorrow I will make provisions”;
For today is gone,
And you do not know what the morrow may bring.
Realize that yesterday will never return,
And that all that you did then
Is weighed, counted, and appraised.
Yesterday cannot be lived again. Once the day has passed, the actions performed during that day have entered the accounting of a person’s life. They are “weighed, counted, and appraised.” Tomorrow, meanwhile, remains unknown. The only period actually placed into a person’s hands is the present.
For this reason, the author continues with an even stronger warning:
Do not say, “Tomorrow I will act”;
For the day of death is hidden from all who live.
Hasten to do each day the appointed task,
For death, at any time, may send its arrow and bolt.
A person does not know the length of his life. He therefore cannot build his repentance upon an assumption that a particular tomorrow will arrive. The appointed work of each day belongs to that day.
The chapter concludes:
Do not delay doing the prescribed work of each day;
For as a bird wanders from its nest,
So must man wander from his place.
This is the final warning of The Gate of Repentance, Chapter 7. Repentance cannot safely be assigned to some future period after a person has finished pursuing what he presently desires. Today disappears, yesterday never returns, tomorrow is unknown, and the day on which a person must leave this world remains hidden from him. Therefore, the work that belongs to today must be done today.